2010 Autostraddle Music Awards: All You Do Is Win

This was an unbelievably great year for music. So much so that it would be damn near impossible to even attempt organizing a ‘Best Of’ list at this point (Jess already did an amazing job of this anyway, so go read that). So instead, I’ve opted for a different approach, handing out awards based on haphazardly-chosen categories. Enjoy, and feel free to add your own!

Runner-Up:

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Best Release By the Child of Another Musician:

Justin Townes Earle, Harlem River Blues

Struggles to overcome substance abuse problems and spats with concert venues aside, the son of country great Steve Earle and namesake of the late, great Townes Van Zandt put out one of the year’s best albums.

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Best Cross-Continental Collab:

When artists from two different musical cultures and traditions come together, the results can sometimes border on hokey or sound forced. But this EP, where two British folk artists with big albums this year jam out with an ensemble from India, is haunting, intricate and, dare I say, magical.

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Biggest Disappointment:

Not necessarily a bad album, but the most memorable aspect of the NYC duo’s sophomore effort was the album art, which looks like Sonic the Hedgehog-Sea God is swallowing a ‘90s-era Nicklelodeon cartoon character against an acid-trip chessboard.

WOrst World Cup Anthem:

The U.S. Men’s National Team represented its country with power, grace and general classiness (even when sippin’ Buds with former President Clinton in the locker room—AMERICAAAA!). This song has none of those positive attributes.

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Best Moment of Girl Talk’s All Day:

There will probably be lots of contentious debate over this, but I’mma have to go with the M.O.P./Miley Cyrus combo on That’s Right.”

Best Non-Girl Talk Mashup:

Pretty much everything on My Sick Uncle’s (500) Days of Weezy mixtape is amazing, but the “Vagabond”/“Pop Bottles” mashup (appropriately named “Vagapop”) might be my favorite. The braggadocio-packed celebration anthem gets a layer of earnestness thanks to Wolfmother’s folky riffs.

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Most Ridiculous Moment on Ke$ha’s Debut Album:

Runner-Up:

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Center of the Popular Music Universe in 2010:

Atlanta, Georgia

In the interest of FULL DISCLOSURE, I might be a bit biased because I spent the summer in the ATL and worked at a music magazine there, but a pretty massive chunk of the people who mattered in pop music in 2010 are from the A. Cee-Lo Green. Janelle Monáe. B.o.B. Keyshia Cole. Of Montreal. Big Boi. Gucci Mane. Mastodon (who didn’t do a whole lot this year but are still AWESOME). Waka Flocka Flame. Deerhunter. Ursherrrr. Need I say more?

Runner-Up:

Canada.

The entire country. Between excellent albums from Arcade Fire (#1!) and Wolf Parade and the rapid rise to fame of a certain blonde teen idol with a haircut quite a few of our readers are probably sporting right now, our neighbors to the North have built a powerful legion of artists poised to rock the world (or at least sing to thousands of screaming tweens).

Atl is the place to be for good music these days. I enjoyed it..and didnt enjoy a lot of it at the same time, you know hearing same songs over and over.and over..and over. @thelink anyone with a ukulele has my heart. =)

I heard the Best Out-of-Genre Cover on npr and showed it to my friends who proceeded to lose their shit saying they ruined the song. Thanks autostraddle for teaching me which of my friends can’t take epic music.

thank you so much for this post! I fell in love with Janelle, learned the lyrics to Fuck You, cried pretty hard at You Are Not Alone (oddly enough, I am alone), retweeted the hell out of Carolina Chocolate Drops all in one post! and I kind of loved almost all of the rest of it too.

Um, okay, so I had an inappropriately intense reaction to Janelle. Like, I just watched everything on youtube I could find that she was in. Oh my lord. Her dancemoves, those eyes, and oh my gosh, the way she wears menswear….
Ahem. Sorry.

i’m getting to this post a few days late but now that i have a couple of iTunes gift cards to play with, i’m hunting for new music. and people really ought to at least check out sleigh bells and their album “treat”. it’s one of those brash, over-the-top experiences. NIN + MIA + Beastie Boys. play it loud and prepare to have your ears assaulted. so. much. fun. …. restore hearing with the awesome staples + tweedy collaboration

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